The IOM and the Future of Nursing. Essay Example.

The Institute of Medicine collaborating with the Robert Wood Foundation established one of the major future nursing initiatives. Its main aim was to conduct a study to produce a transformational report on future nursing. A committee will examine the nursing workforce capacity that would meet the demand of the reformed health care and a public health system. It will also come up with a set of bold recommendations, addressing the delivery of nursing services in a shortage environment and the nursing capacity educational system. In the report, the committee will define agenda and blueprint for action that is changes in institutional and public policy in the national, state and local level .The recommendations would address a range of system changes involving innovative ways to solve the nursing shortage in the United States (Sochalski, & Weiner, 2011).

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Nurses should work closely with other health professions to bring an improvement, redesign health care system and its many environmental practices that include; hospital, schools, homes, battlefields, dispensaries, private health centers, long-term facilities, community and public health centers. Nurses should, therefore, help to bridge the gap for patients complex care for their wide range fulfilling their potential being primary care providers with all their education and training and by this enabling full economic value of their contributions in practice setting to be realized. The promising field of evidence also links nursing care with the high quality of patients care by protecting their safety. In medication error prevention, rate of infection reduction, and discharge of patients from hospital to home, nurses are very important (Kershaw, 2012).

Nursing practices cover a wide range from promotion of health to disease promotion, to cure coordination where possible and to special care, if cure not attained. In matching all these to American population needs, the nursing profession has its challenges. It is not wide as supposed in accordance to race, gender, ethnicity, and age to provide enough and appropriate care to all populations. Most professional members require through education and preparations so as to adopt new roles quickly in response to fast-changing health care settings and an evolving health care settings and an evolving health care system. The professional nursing ability in providing and improving both general and advanced care. A health care system that delivers the right care quality to that is patient centered, accessible, evidence-based and sustainable. At the right time requires environmental transformation, scope of practice, education and American nurses number are some of the restriction on scope of practice and limitations to reimbursement and profession tensions that undermines the nursing professions ability to provide and improve both general and advanced care (Kershaw, 2012).

Due to the variety of historical, regulatory, and policy barriers, nurses have not been able to explore all their great potential which could lead to innovative strategies to improve the health care system. Fragmentation of the health care system, high turnover rates among nurses, nurses difficult in school knowledge application to the field, aging nursing workforce and other demographic challenges are among the other barriers to exploration of full potential. Structural flaws in the United States in health care system are the key factor to the development of these barriers. Some of barriers are the reflection of the present work environment or the capacity and demographic makeup of nursing workforce itself. Scope of practice regulation definition varies in different states; some are detailed while some contain integrated provisions.

Some states have also allowed their nurses to prescription without doctors supervision or collaboration. However, some states still believes that nurses should work under physician supervision. That they should not prescribe, medication, admit patients to the hospital, assess patients conditions and order and evaluate tests. Some like federal commission have a history of targeting anticompetitive conduct in health sector together with policies that could act as a barrier for a new competitor to enter the market. The body has the mandate to promote and ensure the access of employees to a wide range of choice incompetence, cost-effective health care providers (Sochalski, & Weiner, 2011).

The recommendations offered in this report focus on health needs and diverse populations across the lifespan and the actions of the nursing workforce. They are for supporting efforts to improve the health of United States population via nurses contributions in care delivery. However, they are not necessary for achieving what is most comfortable and convenient or easy for the nursing profession.

These are the recommendations; Reconceptualization of the role of nurses within the context of the workforce shortage, society issues, current and future technology. Increasing the capacity of the nursing schools, expanding nursing faculty and redesigning the nursing education ensuring adequate number of well trained nurses able to meet the current and future health care demand. Care delivery and health professional education innovation through focusing on nursing and delivery of nursing services. Employing and retaining well prepared nurses in multiple care setting, including acute, ambitory, primary and long term care, community and public health (Kershaw, 2012).

The state-based action coalitions are responsible for transforming the health care system. This role is accomplished through some specified campaign for action. Campaign for action plays a very vital role in addressing the increasing demand for healthcare through the use of talents, skills, experience, and knowledge of the nurses. The main purpose is to guide the achievement of the Institute of Medicines recommendations found in the landmark report. This campaign is believed to lead to access to high-quality health care whereby nurses are the primary contributors to the achievement of success. The strategies that will be used involve monitoring of results to enhance accountability, communicating the call to action, collaborating with the stakeholders and activating on all the levels (Kershaw, 2012).

In my state, the action coalition leads the way towards the improvement of the populations health. One of the initiatives use is the improvement of the nutrition sector in the state. This initiative is planned to be achieved through the provision of training and nutrition guides throughout the state (Sochalski, & Weiner, 2011). This initiative is believed to help in the building of healthier communities within the state since all individuals will get to know the better modes of nutrition and apply them to improve their health.

Another initiative is increasing diversity as far as the program is concerned. People from different areas such as politics, business, health care and the community as a whole are included in the program so as to enhance its success. There is a need to realize that the program cannot rely on nurses and health care organizations alone. The program will succeed if it is diversified since working together ensures that health care accessibility for all is achieved. Also, it will lead to the availability of quality, seamless and affordable health care for all.

References

Joint Commission. (2010). Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing at the Institute of Medicine: Testimony submitted by the Joint Commission.

Kershaw, B. (2012). The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Nursing Management, 18(9), 10-10.

Sochalski, J., & Weiner, J. (2011). Health care system reform and the nursing workforce: Matching nursing practice and skills to future needs, not past demands. The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health, 375-398.